Religion, Churches.—No person can be molested in F. on account of his religious. opinions, provided the manifestation of them does not disturb the public peace as estab lished by law. The public exercise of any special form of religion must, however, be preceded by the official authorization of the prefet, or in special cases, by higher authority. The recognized forms of faith are—the Roman Catholic, the Protestant, (including the Reformed and Lutheran), the Jewish, and, for Algeria, the Mohamme dan. The clergy attached to these religions receive their pay from the state, and are exempt from military service. The Roman Catholic church embraces the great majority of the people. Of the 36,000,000 which constitute the present population of F., 1,500,– 000 appertain to the two Protestant churches, 150,000 to the Jewish persuasion ; and 25,000 to non-recognized but tolerated denominations, the Anabaptists comprising nearly one third of this number.
At the breaking out of the revolution, the annual revenues of the church amounted to 150,000,000 of byres, and its debts to 133,000,000. The state appropriated to itself the funds of the church in 1789, and assumed the responsibility of maintaining public worship. The following table gives a summary of the expenses incurred by the state for the maintenance of religion since the consulate: The archbishops and bishops of the church of F. are to be nominated by the president of the republic, and canonically inducted by the pope. There are 88 Roman Catholic prelates-18 archbishops, and 70 bishops. The archbishop of Paris receives 50,000 francs per annum; the other archbishops, 20,000 francs; the bishops, 15,000 francs. Six French prelates hold the rank of cardinals, to which dignity they are nominated by the pope on the presentation of the president. Every archbishopric has 3, and every bishopric 2 vicars-general, the whole number being 190. Their salaries vary from 3,500 to 4,500 francs. There arc 709 canons belonging to the various cathedral chapters, receiving from 1600 to 2,400 francs per annum; 3,437 cures or parochial beneficed clergy, who are canonically inducted by the bishops, under the approval of the state; and 31,586 curates or desservants. The cures receive from 1200 to 1500 francs; the curates, 200 francs. The cures may be assisted by a certain number of vicariate, who receive, from 350 to 500 francs; there are at present 9,000 authorized by the state. There are in F. 105 Reformed consistories, and 44 belonging to the Lutheran church. The central council of the Reformed churches holds its sittings at Paris. Synods composed of the delegates of five churches may assemble with the authority of the state to regulate the celebration of the services of their church; but their meetings cannot last longer than six days, and their decisions must be submitted for the approbation of the government.
There is a Protestant seminary for the Reformed at Montauban. Besides the sums inscribed in the budget for the maintenance of religion, the departments are charged with special annual subsidies, which have risen of late years in a rapid ratio, and amounted in 1868 to upwards of 717,000 francs.
Public instruction.—Publie instruction is presided over in F. by a special ministry. Nearly half the expenses connected with it are defrayed by the state, and the remainder by the departments. There are 15 academies located in the following towns—Aix, Besancon, Bordeaux, Caen, Clermont, Dijon, Douai, Grenoble, Lyons, Montpellier, Nancy, Paris, Poitiers, Rennes, Toulon. These academies are divided into the five faculties of theology, law, medicine, sciences, and literature, and supplemented by vari ous superior and preparatory schools. The professors are paid partly by the state, and partly by fees. There are 81 normal schools intended to train teachers for the higher departments of instruction. Secondary instruction has received an immense impetus during the present century. In 1872, there were 41,800 free and public schools for boys, and 17,500 public schools for the use of girls, and the entire number of scholars exceeded four millions. In 1872, the number of people unable to read or write between the ages of 6 and 20 was 2,082,328; above 20, 7,702,362. The departments share very unequally in the diffusion of education, the census of 1872 showing a percent age of ignorance ranging from 6 to 60 in the 87 departments; and it may be observed that the proportion of the educated is highest in the n. and e. of France. F. supports numerous colleges and schools for instruction in special branches of knowledge: as l'eco]e des chartes; des langues orientales; des beaux-arts, founded in 1671 by Louis .XIV.; de dessin, founded in 1766 by Louis XV.; the conservatoire de musique, founded in 1784; l'ecole de Rome, founded by Louis XIV., and l'ecole d'Athenes, founded in 1846; l'ecole des ponts et chaussees, for the instruction of engineers of public works; l'ecole des mines (1783); the conservatoire national des arts et metiers, for the application of science to the arts and trades; the central school des arts et metiers; and the national schools for arts and trades. There are numerous agricultural, forest, farming, and veterinary schools, besides the ecole polytechnique, specially designed to prepare youths for the public services; and military and naval colleges at St. Cyr, Sainnur, Paris, Vincennes, Brest, Toulon, and St. Denis.